Tea Forte

hm. not sure about this one. blah, is what comes to mind, very sweet smelling, but the taste doesn’t grab me. Doesn’t really taste anything like would match up with its name.

The jasmine was overwhelming on the first brew.

Second time was more balanced.

Had this again last night. I’m becoming less unfond of it. I still thing the ginger is overbearing.

The first half of my pot was underwhelming. Nice smelling, but kind of bland tasting when steeped 5 min per the label…. The second half, which had been left with the tea leaves, was pretty darn tingly! Seems to take a bit more than 5 min for the ginger to really come out. It already has a kind of sweet taste, and I did not like it with sugar added.

Brewed the leaves a second time, the ginger dominates now but with a mellower, cooked flavor, not the harsh raw version from the first brew’s second cup. This time the sweet flavor was missing, so a little sugar was nice. The lemongrass is nearly undetectable.

I’d taken out the basket of leaves when the second pot had brewed 5 min, to avoid another gingery punch in the teeth, but after tasting the first cup I dropped that basket back in. Second cup did manage to get some lemongrass without the ginger getting overwhelming.

I enjoyed looking at the leaves, both dry and wet. It’s a pretty little potpourri.

This is kind of what I wanted the chamomile citron to be like. Definitely want to try it again, but I need to experiment with brew times to get a better balance.

Doesn’t seem to stand up very well to a second brew. So bland. :(

A pleasant no-frills black tea. A tiny bit of bitter edge.

Making it from a single steeps packet this time. This one’s a bit dusty too, though less so than the other two black teas I’ve opened lately. Tea Forte, I’m not sure “loose leaf” means what you think it means.

Seems less flowery this time around. More bergamot flavor.

Forgot and oversteeped—but the tea took it well, and didn’t get very bitter. Tasted more flowery than I like, but the tea flavor is nice and rich.

Gave my bag a second brew (for five min this time), and that came out even more flowery. The tea itself wasn’t as flavorful. Aww.

I’m not usually big on chamomile, but I found this surprisingly enjoyable. The lemongrass and mint gave it a pleasant bit of zing, and a touch of sugar brought out some happy licorice flavor.

Brewed a second time—more licorice, less lemongrass.

Much more coconut than chocolate here, which is fine by me. The nuttiness is almost chewy, in fact, and with a splash of milk it’s a delectably creamy treat.

Thank you Ellyn! I feel like I’m starting to come down with something. I’ve been waking up with a sore throat, stuffy nose, and I feel like something is pushing on my chest making me cough :[ So I was happy to see this in my sample box. I always find blends like this soothing to a cold.
ANYWAYS… this was a nice herbal cup. The ginger is spicy but I like how I can taste the lemongrass and licorice through it. I couldn’t really find the spearmint but that’s ok. I was satisfied with the other flavors going on. I liked it :]
Thanks again!

I drank this last night to relax. This is the second teabag I have had of this. I LOVE IT. I LOVE all cucumber teas I have tried For some reason – even though I drank it hot – this tea is very soothing. I liked it so much I went to order it online at the tea forte website. However, shipping is only free at $50.00 and I only wanted this one item. ALAS, I had a brainstorm! I looked on Amazon and they also had the loose leaf. With Amazon Prime I got it shipped to my house for free! YAY!

Has anyone else ordered tea from Amazon? I have purchased other tea forte items (kati cup) from amazon in order to utilize the prime shipping. Looking quickly I noticed some Art of Tea items as well as Teavana and Adagio on Amazon.

Back to this tea – To me this is calm in a cup.

I wanted to love this tea, but it does not agree with my tastebuds. This is the first box of tea I’ve ever thrown away. It’s like drinking dirt.

Got this super marked down at Indigo, and boy am I glad! A sweet minty hit with a great spicy, herbal note from the Basil. The cucumber is only but a whisper, however there is a mellowness to this tea. The sweet/tart of the blueberry is a great added touch! Overall a refreshing tea that I cannot wait to try iced!

30 down – 470 to go!

1.25 tablespoons for 248 ml

Good balance of rooibos flavour and fruity sweetness. Flavour is slightly thin.

Thank you to Ellyn for letting me try this!

I am still learning to brew green tea properly. The first thing I’ve got to learn is to be less lazy – I should use a thermometer to measure the temperature of the water before I become capable of visual estimation. This is not the first time I scalded green tea leaves… there’s some bitterness in the liquor along with the expected grassiness and jasmine flavours (which is rather subtle). :( Can’t say I enjoy it… I am glad that there’s still a bag of these left so I have a second chance!!

So, upon opening this package the tea smells about 90% ginger and 10% pear. It’s really potent stuff! I was nervous the first time I tried it, as I thought it’d be too much spice, not enough pear. Luckily, the ginger calms down once it’s brewed. Even the smell changes, with the pear shining through beautifully. The taste is also quite pleasant, and interesting. The pear is nice and natural tasting, while the ginger compliments (not overpowers) it in the most unexpected way. I’m suprised at how pleasant a cuppa this brews. The aftertaste is almost all pear. Not too shabby. This was a nice tea before bed. Nice and calming.